FACTS…
– WON 2000 E&Y L.I. Entrepreneur of the Year Award in eBusiness.
– HELD tryouts with Montreal Expos and Chicago White Sox.
– HIT hole-in-one in Scotland then stopped playing the round.
– WAS lead guest on highest-rated episode ever of THE KELLY FILE.
– MARRIED to my high school sweetheart.
– WITNESSED 9/11 firsthand. It influenced me to enter filmmaking.
– REGISTERED to run for POTUS in 2016 but dropped out after a week.
– RECEIVED 88.5% “YESES” on poll published by Megyn Kelly that asked, “Would you vote for Dennis Michael Lynch for president in 2016.

TID BITS…

BIGGEST SCARE: Filming Bundy ranch.
BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT: My happy family.
TATTOO: Left shoulder, shamrock.
DREAM JOB: At this point, Secretary of Homeland Security
NEW PROJECTS: Autobiography, action adventure film for big screen, expansion of web productions in the areas of food and health, remaking my first documentary called KING of the HAMPTONS.

The Sunshine Summit, last weekend’s gathering of the Republican grassroots in Orlando, brought together 14 of the 15 candidates currently competing for presidential primary votes, along with most of the Senate candidates.

Unlike the events of the last two cycles in 2007 and 2011, which featured both televised debates and straw polls, this was mostly a candidate showcase – each was given 20 minutes to make their case. The extreme number of candidates this time, and the fact that Florida does not vote until March 15 – after 26 states will have already assigned their delegates, probably reduced attendance at the event. Still, there were upwards of 1000 in the hall, and the media presence was considerable. CSPAN covered the event live, and lots of recognizable on-air personalities could be seen roaming the halls.

External events played a role in what transpired, as reaction to the Paris attacks on Friday were integrated into the Saturday speeches, or in the case of Chris Christie, dominated their remarks. And the Democrat debate on Saturday night offered a unique opportunity to compare all of our contenders to Hillary Clinton and her two pesky sparring partners.

After watching all the debates and attending the Heritage Action Event in South Carolina (with 10 of the candidates), I thought I had a good idea of the dynamics of the race and who was on my short list. That said, I left Orlando with a few new insights.

1. The outsiders have captured the imagination of large portions of the Republican base, even at an event comprised mostly of “insiders”.

As an event sponsored by the Republican Party of Florida, with a large number of blue-badged party officials in attendance, I expected a great deal of support and enthusiasm for the “favorite sons” Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, and less for the outsiders Trump, Carson, Fiorina, and (some would say) Ted Cruz. This was clearly not the case.

While Jeb and Marco have strong support, it was the outsiders who were the rock stars.

Ted Cruz laid out the red meat with a flourish and hit all the hot buttons from Obamacare to the border, the Iran deal, a flat tax, and support for Israel, to thunderous applause.

Donald Trump, avoiding any criticism of his rivals this time, took on illegal immigration (need a Dream Act for Americans), winning again, incompetent leaders, and suggested that college students should be taught about the first amendment. The response was widespread and overwhelming.

Ben Carson, after a quiet start discussing his upbringing, lit into an extensive litany of all the things he would do if he wanted to “destroy America” – all of which Obama has put into motion. His was the most complete and devastating attack on the incumbent President of all the candidates and the crowd responded with enthusiasm.

Carly Fiorina, the last speaker of the event, focused on the Paris attacks, the feckless and dangerous foreign policy of Obama/Clinton, and what she would be doing about ISIS. It seemed like Margaret Thatcher channeling Winston Churchill and left no doubt that she would be a serious and effective commander-in-chief. The response was loud and enthusiastic.

2. Almost all of the Republican contenders are displaying the vision, determination, skill and experience that could believably repair the damage that 7 years of Obama have wrought. Clinton is clearly not in the same league with these people, in spite of her over 25 years on the national stage, and tenure as Senator and Secretary of State.

One thing that has become obvious to many people is that there are many kinds of relevant experience besides being an elected official. The office of President is a unique job, unlike any other, and it takes a generalist to oversee a diverse set of tasks, a communicator to inspire the country and lead it in a positive direction, and a visionary to see our potential as a people and set the wheels in motion to carry us forward. Governors, Senators, Business Leaders – all have skills that are relevant to the job, and all of the candidates now in the race have been successful in their lives and bring serious qualifications and abilities to the table.

Some would say that the terrible state that the country is in – anemic growth, unsustainable debt, corruption at all levels, an abdication of world leadership – is a result of professional politicians and insiders (lobbyists, big donors, etc) having screwed everything up. Hillary Clinton, who is unarguably the stereotype of all those things, would represent more of the same, as could be seen on the debate stage in Des Moines. It was apparent in Orlando that our candidates (to a greater or lesser extent), reject the status quo and will lead the country in a different direction.

3. The weeding out process is going to be long and arduous, as very few of these contenders can be counted out, despite their current standing in the polls.

Until the first delegates are selected in the Iowa caucuses on February 1, the polls will be unreliable, as most likely voters appear to be making tentative selections. Many people, until they have to commit, will lean to the candidate that meets their ideological goals, appears to speak “for them”, says the “right things”, or wins debating points. When the rubber meets the road though, issues of electability, consistency, honesty, ethics, contrast with the Democrat candidate, and other issues will rise in importance. As this year is unusual in the number of candidates and the widespread dissatisfaction with elected officials, predictions are hard.

Some weeding out has already begun, as few would expect Lindsey Graham or Jim Gilmore to become the nominee, and two candidates have already left the race. But all the rest have ardent supporters and judging by the enthusiastic response at the summit to most of the candidates, there are many “acceptable alternatives”. It is truly a deep bench.

I have just returned from a week in S.FL speaking on Common Core, Agenda 21/2030, and our refugee invasion. I met the most wonderful people who were engaged and informed on these issues! I am so proud of the Palm Beach Co Tea Party…On a moments notice, they found out that PBC was a sanctuary county, and that their commissioners were going to support Obama’s unconstitutional Executive Order, DACA.

Joining with the leaders of FLIMEN, (Floridians favoring LEGAL immigration), the PBCTP leaders, Mel and Barbara Grossman and the directors called their members. Members came turned out in BIG numbers, and the commissioners backed down. This was a HUGE victory, but this is just the beginning. To me it was a lesson for the future, for what good people can do – when they come together. We HAVE to keep putting the pressure on!

He has been a stock brokerage professional since 1994. He began writing on March 11th, 2007, the three-year anniversary of the Madrid bombings and the midpoint of 9/11. He has been inflicting his worldview on his readers since then. He writes about politics Monday through Friday, and about football and other human interest items on weekends.

His site is the “Tygrrrr Express.” In April of 2009 he published the book “Ideological Bigotry,” endorsed on the back cover by Ward Connerly and Armstrong Williams. He followed that up in 2010 with “Ideological Violence,” endorsed by Fox News Military Analyst Ralph Peters, and “Ideological Idiocy.” In 2015 he published “Ideological Lunacy,” endorsed by Fox News Military Analyst Bill Cowan and Kevin Jackson, and “Jewish Lunacy,” endorsed by Rabbis Daniel Lapin and David Wolpe.

He speaks around the country to various chapters of the Republican Women’s Federated, Republican Jewish Coalition, Young Republicans, College Republicans, Tea Party, 9/12 Project, and other conservative groups. He has spoken in front of Vice President Dick Cheney, Michael Reagan, Michele Bachmann, Michael Steele, Eric Cantor, Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty, Herman Cain, Michael Medved, Ann Coulter and many more. He spoke at several CPAC events and C-Span has carried his remarks on several occasions.

He has been a stock brokerage professional since 1994. He began writing on March 11th, 2007, the three-year anniversary of the Madrid bombings and the midpoint of 9/11. He has been inflicting his worldview on his readers since then. He writes about politics Monday through Friday, and about football and other human interest items on weekends.

His site is the “Tygrrrr Express.” In April of 2009 he published the book “Ideological Bigotry,” endorsed on the back cover by Ward Connerly and Armstrong Williams. He followed that up in 2010 with “Ideological Violence,” endorsed by Fox News Military Analyst Ralph Peters, and “Ideological Idiocy.” In 2015 he published “Ideological Lunacy,” endorsed by Fox News Military Analyst Bill Cowan and Kevin Jackson, and “Jewish Lunacy,” endorsed by Rabbis Daniel Lapin and David Wolpe.

He speaks around the country to various chapters of the Republican Women’s Federated, Republican Jewish Coalition, Young Republicans, College Republicans, Tea Party, 9/12 Project, and other conservative groups. He has spoken in front of Vice President Dick Cheney, Michael Reagan, Michele Bachmann, Michael Steele, Eric Cantor, Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty, Herman Cain, Michael Medved, Ann Coulter and many more. He spoke at several CPAC events and C-Span has carried his remarks on several occasions.

Karen Schoen was the speaker for the Palm Beach County Tea Party for the November meetings.

All who attended were enlightened about Agenda 21 (or as it is currently referred to as Agenda 2030), Common Core, and a host of other subjects. Karen gave the history of the origination of Agenda 21 by the United Nations and that President Bush 41 was the first to sign onto the plan. she spoke about the way the schools are teaching history starting from 1885 and dismissing the beginning years.

Karen is a very knowledgeable individual and all who attended the Jupiter, Boca and Wellington meetings came away with a better understanding of why our country is heading in the direction that it is going at this time. We thank Karen for her time and her knowledge and hope to have her back again.

Palm Beach County is a Democrat stronghold. We all know that. With 43% of the registered voters (versus 28% for the Republicans), Democrats hold all of the county-wide offices except Property Appraiser, all of the Congressional seats, and about 70% of the county legislative delegation. In spite of those demographics, the County Commission does not usually behave in an overtly partisan way.

It was curious then, and unseemly, that Democrat County Mayor Shelley Vana, term limited on the commission but running for that lone Republican seat of Property Appraiser, would decide to propel the commissioners into one of the most divisive issues of all – illegal immigration and President Obama’s expansion of DACA and DAPA by (most would say) his illegal executive order.

The proposed resolution in support of the order, also asked Florida Attorney General Bondi to withdraw Florida from the 26 state lawsuit seeking to nullify the Obama overreach.

The 27 members of the public that spoke on the issue were mixed – 13 in favor of the resolution and 14 against. Those in favor seemed to be those who would seek to benefit from additional amnesty, as many had individual stories of coming to this country and having a hard time working, going to school, etc. Those against primarily focused on the rule of law and that we cannot ignore the laws that we do not like.

Many PBCTP members and friends turned out against the proposal, including Janet Campbell, Marion Frank, Pam Wohlschlegel, Lynn Scherer, Victoria Theil and Barry Carson, as well as CD18 candidate Paul Spain. Virginia Savietto, a Democrat candidate for House district 87 (which is 31% Hispanic) spoke in favor.

This highly divisive issue should never have been brought before the Commission, and Vana cited a county Hispanic Democrat group for requesting it. Republican Steven Abrams, highly critical of the county stirring up something for which it has no jurisdiction, moved to table the resolution indefinitely, which was seconded by the other Republican Hal Valeche. Three of the Democrats joined them in opposing the resolution including Priscilla Taylor (although she strongly supports President Obama), and Mary Lou Berger (who does support a path to citizenship for illegals). Mellisa Mckinlay voted against it but praised those from the immigrant community who came forth to speak for the record. Only Paulette Burdick and Mayor Vana voted for it. Mayor Vana did not like the “tone” of the debate. “What I saw here wasn’t very good,” she said.

Once again, the voices of the people made a measurable difference. Thanks to all who spoke at the meeting, called the commissioners, or sent email.